


into life I’ve just been woken (with a head full of dreams)

by selenicsoulmates



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: F/M, Multi, don't think anything of them??, i guess, some other pairings show up but main focus is always starco sorry, these are just a buncha random one shots i have
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2018-12-05 17:37:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 10,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11582952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/selenicsoulmates/pseuds/selenicsoulmates
Summary: "I think I landed where there are miracles at work," or, selenicsoulmates' neverending prompt collection.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> prompt from sparkly-eyed-dork on tumblr: Marco realizing his feelings for Star? (given he already broke up with Jackie)

It doesn’t happen all that quickly.

Marco doesn’t know the difference – or wouldn’t be able to much, with a lack of understanding for what love is beyond childhood infatuation, but he promised his friend he’d figure it out as he stayed by her side in trying times, so he will. Marco remembers it after the frantic argument she had against him staying there at all, after everything he did to get back to her. It had taken him a few days to figure out he actually had scissors to follow after her, brain practically swept of anything logical, instead echoing the last moment they had together. But once he stepped foot inside the castle, unwavering and desperate to talk, she had all but told him he couldn’t be there with her.

“ _It’s dangerous now!”_ she had claimed, “ _I can’t just let you get involved in our issues because I want you to be here. I need you to be safe._ ”

He was confused at first, and a bit angry, because she just ran off without explaining practically anything besides her crush on him. But when her mother steps in and explains that his previous captor was back and more powerful than before, his anger vanished and he was left with only determination to support his best friend. And once a call to his parents was made, with exchanges about Marco staying for the remainder of the summer and details from the Butterflys, Star had fiercely told him that they needed to talk, alone.

He could tell she wanted to yell at him as soon as they were away from her parents, scream at him until her throat was scratchy and sore, but she settled on shaky breaths and crossed her arms, shaking her head back and forth to show him how much he  _could not be here right now._

“ _I wouldn’t have told you I liked you if I knew I was going to see you again,_ ” she said, then paused. “ _Do you? Feel that way about me, I mean._ ”

“ _I don’t know what I feel…about anything right now, honestly,_ ” he told her, and he took her hands in his to keep her from running away again. It’s the same thing he told Jackie before they settled on taking a break for awhile. “ _But I know I don’t want you to say goodbye again. So I’m staying. I wouldn’t be able to figure out what I feel for you if I couldn’t._ ”

“ _But Toffee’s –_ ”

“ _I don’t care_ ,” He answered immediately. “ _I’m not leaving you when I can help_.”

He knows he told them he could help, but at the moment he doesn’t really know what he can do beyond sit within the walls of the castle and twiddle his thumbs as Queen Butterfly demonstrates a new spell to Star with the wand. It had been a little over a week since he showed up, and that’s pretty much what he’s been doing – staying by her side and supporting her in any possible way he could.

She looks over at him as her mother speaks, a stare that goes from determined and focused to just a bit silly, blue eyes shining with mischief. She tilts her head and smiles at him. “ _Thank you for being here_ ,” it says.

His heart jumps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can send over prompts to ghostgetters.tumblr.com/ask when the prompt box is open!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt from tsubakies on tumblr: starco having a beach day (after seeing that beach pic of them hanging on the fridge from starcrushed it looked cute af and a Beach Episode is a must)

“Catch!” Star swings the beachball in Marco’s direction, hard and fast, and the ball bounces off his face, catapulting right back to her. He falls backwards into the shallow ocean from the force; shouldn’t these things be light?

“Oh my gosh,” she’s laughing madly, holding the ball she successfully caught to her side as she rushes over to him, his lower half in the water. “Are you okay?”

“I think there’s sand in my shorts.”

She cackles even louder, extending her arm to help him out of the salt water that splashed against his back. Star’s laughter is bright and contagious.

“¡Hola mijo!” Rafael calls from their spot on the beach a couple of yards away. “Smile for the camera!”

Marco’s too busy steadying himself back on the sand, two hands on the beach ball as Star laughs happily. He doesn’t look at his parents but instead at her, excited and happy and with a slight flush in her cheeks from the sun, and he probably looks like a giggling mess too, but he hopes it’s a nice shot anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can send over prompts to ghostgetters.tumblr.com/ask when the prompt box is open!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt from an anon on tumblr: Starco prompt: Netflix and literally just chilling

Friendship Thursday wasn’t too much fun when, well, two of the three participants were passed out 10 minutes into the show.

Star doesn’t mind…a lot, because it’s still Friendship Thursday and she’s still with her friends – technically. She looks over at Marco hunched against Pony Head’s pink mane, mouth wide and snoring lightly. At least they had a fun day – though whatever they managed to pick up at Emelio’s Pizzaria could’ve used some…work, to say the least. She grimaces at the melty slice that sits on the side table, untouched since her first bite.

_Way too many mushrooms._

The Friendship Snuggly that she wore has managed to slip down past her waist, and she’s much too lazy to bring it back up around her shoulders and burry her nose into the blue cloth. Plus, she kinda wants a sandwich, and maybe some fruit punch from the kitchen.

She stretches her arms out, pushing up toward the ceiling and yawns, then stretches outwards next to her. Kitchen in mind, she begins the slow process of getting up when a familiar head full of brown hair falls against her side, onto her lap, startling her back to her seat. She looks over at where her best friends previously were: Pony Head’s moved closer to her, tilted in her direction, and the movement must have sent him over to her for a more comfortable sleep. What did they even  _do_ today to be as tired as they were? Especially Marco, who seemed completely unfazed by his new sleeping positon – in fact, taking light of it and nestling his head against her leg.

Star brings her hand to his shoulder to shake him awake, then pauses, tilting her head down to look at his sleepy form. His hair is matted in the back, and he looks so tired yet content and, well, her fruit punch can wait a little longer, right?

She takes a chunk of his hair and smoothes her fingers through it, brushing out the knots and separating the strands into bundles of threes, creating a loose little braid. A giggle escapes her as she looks at her handiwork, twirling it around at the back of his head. Her other hand lightly brushes against his bangs at his forehead, his breath even and mouth slightly open with just a hint of drool, and she cards her fingers through his hair before tucking it behind his ear. There, she traces tiny sketches from his ear to his cheek with a gentle finger, her thumb gliding against his jawbone right under it. And she swears he sighs, falling deeper onto her thighs, nestling his nose into the fuzzy blanket, and has he always been this soft and gentle and –

“Uh, B-fly, what are you doing?”

Her arms unconsciously fly off his body and to her sides, burned, as Pony Head looks her and Marco up and down from under the blanket.

“Nothing!” Star laughs awkwardly, then remembers the sleeping boy on her lap and lowers her voice. “I’m not doing anything.”

“Kinda looked like you were petting Earth Turd.”

She frowns. “I was not  _petting him_. And stop calling him that!”

“Why should I?”

“Because he isn’t an ‘Earth Turd.’”

Pony Head gives her a knowing look, then raises an eyebrow at the boy lying against her ( _her!_ ) bestie. “Looks like a turd to me.”

“Well…he isn’t.”

The horsehead blinks. “Because he’s cuter than a turd?”

“Yes!” Star exclaims, glaring at Pony Head resolutely, until it registers what she just said. She tricked her – a specialty of her Mewni best friend. Pony Head smirks at her, muzzle tilted to show she’s won, and Star immediately panics – waving her hands back and forth because absolutely not, no way, not  _possible_  - “Wait, wh-what no! No, he isn’t – no. No.”

“I  _can’t believe_  you think Earth Turd is  _actually_ –”

“Pony!” She doesn’t even register what she’s done until she hears a yelp and groaning from the floor, where Marco now lay face planted at an uncomfortable angle. She’s immediately next to him, apologizing for pushing him off the couch and helping him up from the carpet.

Star’s never heard Pony Head laugh louder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can send over prompts to ghostgetters.tumblr.com/ask when the prompt box is open!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt from thelazerbird on tumblr: 1) things you said at 1 am, 36) things you said you’ll never forget

It’s appropriate, he thinks. At least in their case it is.

She’s had a tad too much wine, or whatever they call it on Mewni, and he’s a little dizzy himself, a few drinks here and there to quench the boredom of being a prince escort in training. A luxury they’d have a few more years to wait to do back on Earth, so he takes it in stride, sipping whenever engaged in conversation with Mewman nobles, or taking large sips whenever Star was accompanied to the dance floor by visiting royalty.

It’s late in the evening, with the three moons up high together and shining through glass ceilings and paving pathways of light for them to follow. They do, hand-in-hand, giggling messes in clothes too shiny, too sparkled, too dazzling and too not-them, until she jumps into his arms and claims his lips for herself.

She’s not close enough - though, she never really is, and he tries to pull her into him until he’s forced to find stability against a marbled wall in the deserted hallway they’ve staked as their own.

Star’s gloved hand folds into his hair and tugs him toward her, craving for more and more and more. She’s never satisfied, but he has every more to give.

“Marco,” she breathes, and he stops, waits, listens for her, resting his head against the tuffs of her blonde hair that peak out beneath her crown. She laughs lightly, cupping his cheeks. “I love you.”

He kisses her, again, and again, and again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can send over prompts to ghostgetters.tumblr.com/ask when the prompt box is open!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt from an anon on tumblr: 6) things you said under the stars and in the grass, 28) things you said but not out loud

“What’s your favorite star?”

He twists his neck to look at her, her hair tickling his cheek as it fans out around her. Her eyes are caught between the the constellations that shine above them, fascinated.

“Mine’s Sirius, just ‘cus it’s so bright and it’s the first one you see when everything goes dark,” she answers, before he can conjugate a response. “Plus, I like that it helps form a dog in the sky. I love dogs.”

He hums looking back up at the winter constellations and finding the one she points to, twinkling now and then but shining ever brighter. It truly outshines all the rest.

“I guess -” he hesitates, thinking, because what other star is there to love above the one that lies next to him? “I guess Polaris is my favorite.”

“The North Star?” She snorts. “C'mon Marco, you’re more original than that.”

“I guess I’m not,” he chuckles. “It’s like…that one star is the center of the sky, and no matter the season or the day, while the other stars come and go, Polaris is always there. It’s constant. And all the other stars move around it, like it’s some sort of beacon.”

He hears her rustle against the grass beside him, turning on her side and folding her elbows, watching him from above with curious blue eyes.

“It helps you find your way home, too,” she says quietly.

He meets her gaze, soft and simple yet holding back, looking as if there’s more to say but no way for her to say it. He wants her to, and he wants the words to spill from his own lips too because she is all of the stars - bright and unyielding and constant and home.

Instead, he smiles gently her way. “Yeah. Yeah, it does.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can send over prompts to ghostgetters.tumblr.com/ask when the prompt box is open!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt from an anon on tumblr: 16) things you said with no space between us, 39) things you said when we first met, 53) things you said in the dark

He ducks his face into her hair, pushed against a cave wall that crumbles around them, bits of rock and dust coating their skin and clothes and he really wishes they were in Echo Creek, ordering breakfast burritos right now. They’re gripping each other like lifelines, him sheltering her from the explosions that ricochet outside their temporary safe haven and the sounds of war. He makes sure to cover the side of her head not shielded by his torso with a protective hand.

Then it stops – the shaking of the ground and the dust from the ceiling falling like final drops of rain after a thunderstorm. Marco raises his head from Star’s as she lifts her wand that pressed against his chest just enough so that the crystal glowed a bright, sparkling pink light. He squints and adjusts his eyes, examining the damage when he could see clearly – boulders block the entrance of the massive tunnel they escaped into. Great.

Star’s panting heavily beside him, her hand still grasping his hoodie as she looks around the room. He feels her grip tighten when she sees the cave-in.

“Well –” she starts, sighing. “You did say you wanted a little danger in your life, right?”

They’re mere inches apart, her breath tickling his cheek as they look at one another, and feigning a sheepish smile covered in a thin coating of dirt. Under layers of grime and fake smiles he sees his best friend slowly falling apart.

It’s ludicrous – she’s ludicrous, really. Because a war isn’t what he meant when he said he wanted to escape his “Safe Kid” title. She knows that, of course.

But laughter helps them cope with bitter reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can send over prompts to ghostgetters.tumblr.com/ask when the prompt box is open!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An anon requested a quick Starco thing because they were feeling kinda down. Wanted to give 'em a bit of a pick-me-up. 
> 
> prompt from elladoodles on tumblr: “Marco braiding and playing with Star’s hair” and “Marco sneaking in to her room in Mewni for wholesome movie time.”

“Hey.”

Star peers at him from behind her bedroom door she’s opened only partially to stick her head out of. It’s late and she’s tired between wand practice with her mother and fighting with him. She’s still pretty annoyed – their argument in the back of her head practically all day, thereby making training difficult. She really just wants to sulk in bed for the rest of the night, but he’s standing at her doorway and she really can’t bring herself to tell him to leave.

He smiles down at her, sheepish and nervous, the laptop he’s brought along with him tucked under his arm and a movie in the other. She raises an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.

“I…uh,” Marco brings the movie he holds up as a sort of peace offering, looking around at the castle hall to avoid her gaze. “I was thinking, um, maybe if you weren’t busy that – uh,” Star’s head tilts a bit, confused, because he’s not usually so uneasy around her, even after a fight ( _Though, my crush on him may have changed that a bit_ , she thinks sadly). He hesitates, taking a deep breath, finally meeting her eyes. “Would you wanna watch a movie with me? It  _is_  Friendship Thursday, so maybe you and I could…” He trails off, hopeful, as Star pulls the door open further.  

She takes the DVD from his outstretched hand. “What’s it about?”

“It’s about a dumb guy that screws up and wants to make it up to his best friend.”

Star stares at the cover. “That’s what happens in Captain America?”

“Well, no, not exactly,” Marco rubs the back of his neck, laughing awkwardly. “Not at all actually. But it’s a good movie! I’m kinda trying to do the whole ‘making it up to your best friend’ part right now.”

They don’t fight a lot, and when they do she’s usually the one in his position – at the other side of the door with some sort of apology because she said something stupid, or crossed a line, or just managed to tick him off at that moment. Being behind the door isn’t any great either – fighting with him in general kinda sucks. And while she’s still pretty mad, and she still kinda wants to yell at him, she misses the whole ‘making up’ part.

And, well, she missed him too. She can’t help it.

Star pulls her door open wider, stepping back and he follows her inside, taking in the large room’s décor. It’s a little bigger than the one she had at the Diazes, with a canopy bed and silk sheets and a crystal vanity surrounded by numerous of similar-looking furniture – royal and expensive-looking. She personally preferred how her room on Earth looked.

She waves her wand and two bean bags appear next to one another by the balcony window. Star walks over and claims the pink one for herself. “We can watch it over here.”

He follows her and puts the laptop in front of her, opening it and pressing a few keys to start the movie. Marco sits down in the green beanbag and falls into a comfortable silence as the opening credits roll. Star’s watching the movie but also kinda watching him, averting her eyes to his and back to the screen. He’s always been more attentive during movies while she liked to ask him questions and make silly ideas about the way the movie could go if it happened in a different dimension. But now it’s quiet and she doesn’t know what to do or say.

Unconsciously, she begins combing her fingers through her hair as a sort of distraction, getting to a bundle of blonde knots and pulling. She pulls again, and again, and she didn’t brush her hair before he got there. And she probably looks like a mess, and now her head is starting to hurt. Wonderful. Star curses, tugging at a knot until the back of her head throbs.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, um,” she removes her hand from the mess that is her hair and looks away, focusing back on the movie. “I just didn’t brush my hair yet and it’s kinda knotty from training today.”

“Oh,” she hears him rustle a bit next to her, shifting to face her. “I can brush it, if you want me to. I got that Marco touch.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I don’t wanna bother you with it,” Star feels a blush creeping up her cheeks and  _why_ , for Corn’s sake,  _why does he have this effect on he_ r _?_  How is this fair?

“It’s cool. I don’t mind,” he says, sliding his beanbag behind hers and starting at her blonde locks, brushing his hands through it. He’s careful and slow and gentle, and she’s so tired that she begins to lean back toward him in comforting bliss. Her eyes are lulling closed, blinking rapidly to keep herself awake but failing miserably, and she really likes this. Why was she about to turn him down?

“I’m sorry about our fight.”

She’s pulled out of her hazy dreamscape and opens her eyes, turning her head just a bit to acknowledge him. She doesn’t say anything, hearing him sigh as he continues his work.

“I keep thinking we’re on Earth and you’re the foreign exchange student, when we’re on Mewni and it’s me who doesn’t know what’s going on. I freaked out on you about going into the Forest of Certain Death because I’m scared of everything that’s happening lately and I worry about you and I know I shouldn’t have done that. At least not the way I did. I’m just trying to protect you,” he takes his fingers and combs from the top of her head until it’s smooth, separating her long thick hair into threes and beginning to twist them together. “I just want you to be safe.”

“You know you don’t have to look out for me.”

“I know. You’re a super powerful magical princess. I was being dumb.”

She laughs. “Just a bit.”

He relaxes, breathing a sigh of relief and moving more quickly to braid her hair. She relaxes just as he does, because she missed this and she missed him – she missed just being with him and hanging out and not having to worry about anything. Those moments have been so few and far between lately, and sometimes she feels like it’s her fault. Maybe it’s both their faults – her leaving him after confessing and not explaining everything and him chasing after her and refusing to go back home. Maybe it’s Toffee being back. But it’s nice for things to feel normal again, or as normal as they can be.

When he finishes his work, he brings the tresses toward the front of her face so she can see it. She takes the hair where he holds it, brushing her fingers against him. She catches him fidget a little, eyes widening and going quiet again, and did he feel that too? Did his heart stutter, and his chest feel hallow for that half a second before it caught back onto reality? She hopes it’s that, or something else, and not just him being awkward like after Song Day.

She decides to break the silence with a grateful smile. “Thanks. You really do have the Marco touch.”

“Yeah, well,” he chuckles, “I try my best.”

Star shifts back into her beanbag and focuses on the movie, which she had forgotten about since he started playing with her hair. “C’mon, let’s finish this movie,” she sticks her elbow out and hits his side. “You have to explain to me the whole Red Skull thing going on.”

“Okay,” he agrees, settling next to her. “We could watch the next few movies too, if you want. It’s a series.”

They do, him explaining everything to her and making jokes and laughing until they see the Mewnian sun rise over the swamp lands. And when her mother nags her about being so tired during spell training, Star still doesn’t regret staying up all night with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can send over prompts to ghostgetters.tumblr.com/ask when the prompt box is open!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is day 2 of Starco week: Mewberty. 
> 
> I plan on expanding this and putting all of the prompts from this week here, regardless of me being MONTHS late. I had ideas and my computer deleted all of them, the bastard.

She whines from underneath him, cupping the back of his neck and holding him down to her lips. Star takes another taste, another kiss - and it’s as if he’s never close enough, even when there are no inches that separate them. How much closer can she be? “I think you’re making it worse,” she breathes, frustrated.

Marco pushes himself up to look down at her, eyes closed and brows crinkled together and mouth wanting, and sure enough, he sees the small dusting of purple hearts grow along her cheeks and up the bridge of her nose. He peels a scale-covered heart off of her that popped onto her forehead, purple residue coating the tips of his fingers. Three more grow in its place.

“Yeah, I’m definitely making this worse,” he observes, crinkling the heart between his thumb and pointer finger. 

Star groans, falling further into her mattress. “Great. Now what am I supposed to do?”

“I mean, if kissing you is pushing your mewberty phase along, maybe I should just –”

“No!” Her hands encircle around his neck, pulling him down next to her. Marco doesn’t resist when her hands grip his against the bed and she leans over him, inches from his face. “No, I –” She hesitates, huffing loudly and letting go of his hands. Purple powder coats his wrists, and she backs away, mortified. “Sorry. Don’t go.”

“I wasn’t gonna leave.”

She blinks. “Really?”

“No!” He laughs at the incredulous stare she gives him. How could he leave her like this? “I just didn’t know if kissing you was a good idea with…y’know,” he gestures back and forth between their matching violet hands, “this happening.”

“I personally think kissing is an amazing idea,” she protests. “Even if I am turning into a needy, purple mess.”

“The last time this happened, Glossaryck said it ends at like, what, 4-ish? 3:57 PM?” He reaches over to the side of her bed and grabs his phone. “And it’s 3:32 right now. I think we can kill some time before then.”

Her lips immediately claim his, hands cupping his cheek and running through his hair and it’s messy and wonderful all at the same time. Her hearts are glassy and slide against his skin – tickling every open inch they trace. Her lips are wet and messy and she keeps moving, pressing deeper and deeper as if he offers some sort of sanctuary in his mouth. Marco tangles his hands in her hair and tilts her face to calm her down just bit, to take just a slither of control, but then she hums a sweet, desperate sound and he gives it all back. All he can do is open to her need, to give and give and give until she’s content.

“D’ya think you’re gonna grow four more arms again?” He questions once she lets go for air, tapping a finger to his chin. “I can’t figure out if that’ll end up being super cool or really, really weird.”

The sounds of her laughter drowns out the unmistakable hum of hearts budding around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can send over prompts to ghostgetters.tumblr.com/ask when the prompt box is open!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt from thelazerbird on tumblr: "just leave me alone." 
> 
> Yeah, this is Janna/Tom. Don't ask whether I ship it or not (because I'm kinda back and forth at this point - mostly because they've never interacted), just know I'm aware of where the show is probably going with them.

The Bounce Lounge was never Tom’s favorite place to chill.

And now here he and his friends stood, dancing in the newly renovated club, now titled Moonshiner, or something. It was nice, he admitted – it was darker and they played better music, plus their drinks were pretty tasty. He did miss the death pit, though. The death pit was the best thing about the Bounce Lounge.

But his ‘friends’ (he has those now, apparently?), dancing underneath a big spotlight, were kinda ticking him off. Pony Head and Kelly were bouncing up and down, while Star and Marco were hand-in-hand, spinning around, lost in their own little world.

They had stuff to do. They had an evil queen’s monsters to track down. They shouldn’t be here.

“So, did the Underworld freeze over or something?”

Tom drinks from his cup nonchalantly, ignoring the girl with the green beanie who has made her way over into his dark little corner. “Just leave me alone, Janna.”

Janna was…certainly the most  _interesting_ of Star’s batch of friends. Sure, while Marco was a pain in his rear and Pony Head was pretty obnoxious, Janna was more…upfront with her personality. On first meeting, he got the full report from Marco:  _‘she steals my stuff all the time’_ and _‘she loves to manipulate you into giving her what she wants’_ and _‘she likes to flirt with me and says that I should call her after my divorce’_ (he honestly didn’t believe that last one). Her interest in the dead made her more interesting to talk to, though. And she was definitely more tolerable and cool than Marco made her out to be. But he wasn’t really in the mood for talking. Not while Mewni was in danger and Pony Head, Kelly, Marco, and Star were far too busy dancing to do much about it at the moment.

“What is with you boys and being so  _mopey_?” Janna interrogates, sitting on the arm of the sofa. “It’s like, as soon as Marco finally lays off the self-pity, you take his spot as the killjoy of the group. What’s the deal with that?”

“I just don’t understand why we’re here,” Tom says, crossing his arms. “We should be, I dunno, scavenging Mewni for clues or something. Or searching through the dimensions. Not jamming to pop music in the Bounce Lounge’s replacement venue.”

Janna nods towards where Marco twirls a giggling Star under his arm, bringing her back close to his chest. He whispers something in her ear that has her cackling loud enough to draw attention from other dancers, and Star wraps her arms around his neck to hold her steady. Watching them together felt like nothing had happened the past few weeks – just two best friends finding something a little different between each other. “She’s been through a lot. I don’t think one night of dancing is gonna kill us,” she says.

“Plus, they’re finally making progress,” Janna flicks him on the back of the head. “So try to not be a party pooper, huh?”

Tom groans in reply. “Fine. But if something happens while we’re here ‘partying it up,’ I’m blaming you.”

“How about I give you a deal?” Janna hops from her perch atop of the plush sofa’s to stand in front of the demon. “You get off your mopey butt and dance with me, and I’ll…” Janna taps her chin thoughtfully, imaging scenarios of what she could offer…before dangling a familiar black bracelet a few inches from his face, “give this back to you?”

Horrified, Tom stares back and forth between her and the stolen jewelry. He reaches up to grab it, but fails pathetically – Janna snatching it back with ease. He falls back into the sofa with a huff. “How in the  _heck_ did you –”

“I’m not gonna tell,” she snorts. “But regardless, you get to dance with me,  _and_ you get your goth-chic bracelet back. This is a win-win for you, Lucitor.”

He scratches the back of his neck, thinking of an excuse to turn her down.  _Geez, she’s forceful. No wonder her and Star are friends._ “Look, I dunno if that’s –”

“Oh for John Keats’ sake,” Janna takes his arm and drags him off the sofa. He catches his balance just barely before being forced towards the dancefloor. The music is louder and the lights are brighter and their friends excitedly wave them over, with Pony Head being the most cheerful of the group. Janna stops right next to Star and Marco, who have given themselves a few inches of breathing room without letting go of each other to greet their friends.

“Move over, Fools in Love!” Janna spins Tom quickly before catching him in back in her arms. In his dizzy haze, he can make out the sight of Star’s delight radiating off her cheeks and Marco’s much more sympathetic glance.  _You’re in **so** much trouble_, it read. Janna pulls him closer with one arm before he can even ask for help, sticking her other out and pointing challengingly at Star and Marco.“You’re about to be out-danced.”

He most certainly was in trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can send over prompts to ghostgetters.tumblr.com/ask when the prompt box is open!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt from an anon and sparkly-eyed-dork on tumblr: "you're adorable, you know that?"

It’s the feeling of her gloved hand fitting his own that ceases his endless fidgeting, drawn between shaking extended fingers to a closed fist every few seconds. He looks over to her, expecting her to be annoyed with him, but she isn’t – standing tall in a long blue gown with her blonde hair rolled up, puffy bangs slipping out beneath her crown. She wears a consistent smile, staring ahead.

“Don’t be so nervous, Marco,” she squeezes his hand again. “You totally earned this. You’ll do great.”

He keeps his voice low, not to distract from the choir that sings to a full crowd of Mewman nobles and aristocrats. “Easy for you to say; you’ve probably overseen plenty of these.”

“Have not,” she argues quietly. “I totally ditched these things to chill at the Bounce Lounge with Pony Head.”

“Oh.” Figures she’d have no clue what was going on beyond what her mother told her about the ritual. “Well then, Your Majesty, I’m so very honored to be the first for you.”

Star giggles, trying to cover her snorts with her empty hand. He sees the King and Queen turn their heads simultaneously at a 10 degree angle to glare at them, and suddenly his nerves are back. Star just laughs more, and Marco has to cover her mouth with both his and her hands. He looks around cautiously – only a few sitting in the front of the crowd noticed, thankfully, and scowls down at Star enough before releasing her hands. He pulls at the tight white collar and readjusts the shoulder tassels before setting his own firmly against his sides.

“Are you done?”

Star looks up at him fondly, just as the trumpets begin to sound. “You’re adorable, you know that?”

It’s been hard to stem the blush that rises to his cheeks when she makes comments like that. The ‘ _you’ve never looked cuter_ ’ remarks or when she called him a ‘ _cute idiot_ ’ when he told her what he did to Toffee when she was gone. It’s been even harder to find responses, though Star seems patient enough – never expecting anything from him beyond the support he could provide as her best friend.

Today though, with a touch more sparkles under her eyes, and those eyes more blue than the gown that wraps around her widely, he feels inclined to do more than just blush as red as the hoodies he usually wears.

“And you’re amazing,” he says, as casually as he can at that moment. He thinks his words will trip over his tongue. “I feel like I don’t tell you that enough.”

The Queen steps forward in the corner of his vision, thanking the crowd. Star, however, keeps her eyes on his, as if searching for something. He continues to watch the Queen. “You could say it more, I guess.”

“I’ll work on it,” he replies, then smiles. “You’re amazing, Princess Star Butterfly, and you look amazing, too.”

This time, it is her cheeks that blush. “Marco, I –”

Queen Moon waves a hand at him and Star, her voice confident and loud and poised. “Sir Marco Diaz of the Earth Dimension, if you may step forward.”

Marco takes a deep breath before giving Star a nervous smile, then carefully steps up towards center stage, where the King and Queen stand. He bows, an etiquette he’d been reminded would be necessary in this kinda thing (by River, thankfully, with a much too-strong pat on the back as he did so), and kneels. Another deep breath.  _You got this, Diaz. You earned this._ He sees Star watching him carefully, a long grin stretching across her features. Her lips read ‘ _don’t puke_ ’ and Marco nods just enough for her to see without making it look like he’s about to collapse on stage.

Moon holds the royal staff in both hands, gracing him with a sort of kindness he hadn’t seen from her since before the entire mess with Toffee happened. She looks grateful, instead of tired. As if instead of this being another royal inquiry, something he knows those of upper status demand on her, it is rather a gift she is honored to give. She points the moon and star above his head.

“Please rise, Marco, as I present the title of Chevalier to you in front of our Kingdom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can send over prompts to ghostgetters.tumblr.com/ask when the prompt box is open!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt from bluberrieowl on tumblr: Star telling someone/ or realizing her feelings for Marco??? I never seen a fic like that :0

The trek back home is much less lively alone, only accompanied with a light breeze that blows through humid April air. There are stars too, of course, and the last creasing of the moon before it disappears into the sky, and Star watches them precariously as she walks.

Because the smile stuck on her face is really starting to hurt, and thinking about the constellations Marco told her all about is better than thinking about, well, Marco.

Marco and Jackie, specifically. To be even more specific, Marco and Jackie _together_ – holding hands, singing to one another, _kissing –_

The street sign above her hisses and smokes and Star jumps back, looking at the damage she’s done. Her smile falls and she curses, glowering at her wand that glows eerily back at her.

_Great. More private property destroyed because I can’t keep it together._

“Stop,” she orders her wand, shaking the staff in her fist, angrily speaking at the crystal as if it will listen. “Stop being evil and green. Stop it right now.”

It doesn’t, and Star groans before shoving the wand into her right boot – out of sight, out of mind. The rest of the way home goes rather quickly – her steps longer and faster until she’s nearly at a run.

She doesn’t realize at first, with the wind against her face and the air sweeping into her lungs, that she’s crying by the time she turns down the block leading towards the Diaz residents. The only light on inside is the kitchen, and with no car in the drive way, it seems that no one’s home to greet her (or question what happened).

Bounding up the stairs two steps at a time leads her to her room with ease, and she collapses into the pillows that absorb the sobs that suddenly can’t stop overflowing. She grips the sheets tighter – why is she crying so hard? It’s not like Marco ditched her, or completely forgot about her. She doesn’t get it.

She needs guidance – she needs to be told how to feel because whatever feeling is bubbling in her chest and leaving evidence all over her face is so foreign even she is unwilling to comprehend it. Star wishes Glossaryck was here, with little quips that could at least make her feel better. But she was alone – alone in her room, alone in this house, alone in the world.

She thinks of her mom, who hasn’t reached out much since she told her about how Baby’s inspection went. Though she acts cold sometimes with regalia and responsibility, she knows her mother loves her. She just has trouble imaging how she’d react to something as…unimportant as her developing feelings for someone.

_‘Oh, hey mom. Remember how there was no funny business to be had here on Earth? Well guess what? I’m super jealous of my best friend being with someone who isn’t me and it sucks! Also, I blew up a billboard.’_

Star makes her way to her mirror anyway, gripping her pillow in comfort, because at least talking about it will stifle the thoughts that grow louder and louder and tell her what the problem actually is (though, now that she thinks about it, her mother may tell her the obvious as well).

She stares back at her reflection; there are tears still trailing down her cheeks, and her concert t-shirt is wrinkled and dirty. Absolutely unfit for a future queen, but she hopes it’s enough to get her mom to regard her in a topic away from that.  
  
“Call –”

Her phone rings loudly, nearly jumping out of her boots. She stares at her purse, pulling out her compact slowly and opening it, staring at its contents as it rings again to reveal a new message above the older one. Another one follows quickly after that.

Of course it’s him.

**_Marco Diaz – Where are you?_ **

**_Marco Diaz – Where did you go? I can’t find you anywhere in the arena._ **

**_Marco Diaz – Star, answer me please._ **

She turns away from her mirror, reading the messages over again. It’s hard to contemplate why she feels agitated seeing them – maybe it’s because she wants him to feel this way. Maybe it’s payback for the ugly crying she keeps doing. Star sighs, regarding them carefully and retreating, because she knows that isn’t right. She may be unhappy, but she doesn’t wish Marco to be.

Her phone echoes loudly from the bubbly electronic music, displaying a happy photo of Marco above the bold icon encouraging her to answer the phone and talk to him.

She doesn’t. Not because she doesn’t want to, but because she doesn’t know what to say when he inevitably asks her what’s wrong with her.

Star does listen to the voicemail he leaves, though. She can’t help herself.

_“Hey Star, it’s me…um, Marco, obviously. Yeah, uh, you kinda ditched the concert and I wanna make sure you’re okay…Please be okay. I’m really worried, and, um…I just wanted to check in, I guess. I’m gonna try calling again. Okay? Okay, bye.”_

Another message quickly lights up her phone before she has time to process hearing his voice again.

**_Marco Diaz – Are you okay? I’m about 45 seconds away from calling 911_ ** _._

The shaky laugh breaks through the rocks in her throat, reading the message over. He was such a Safe Kid - the most obtuse reactions for the littlest of things.

 _He’s such a great best friend_ , she thinks, and a smile creeps along her cheeks at the thought of him worrying about her. Though his over-reactive protective ways can be a little jarring, she appreciates how much he cares about her.

She hopes he knows that.  

Star takes a deep breath, wiping across the wet hearts on her cheeks. Calm minds get more work done, she recalls Marco telling her over a plate of nachos and trigonometry homework. And ignoring him is just gonna increase suspicions she can’t deal with right now.

Plus, worrying him isn’t fair. He didn’t do anything, Star reminds herself sadly.

_All he wanted was to have fun with two cool girls. It’s not his fault that he got caught up with his girlfriend._

She takes another shaky breath, exhaling slowly, and types apprehensively into her phone.

**_Star Butterfly – I’m home. got sick. see yu tomorrow._ **

Star’s fingers hover over the send button, the additional ‘ ** _have fun_** ’ hanging alone as a separate, broken message. They stare back at her and jealously she realizes that they aren’t even true. She deletes the seven letters, her lip quivering as she tosses her phone carelessly across her room.

She doesn’t…want him to have fun. Not unless she’s there. Not when he’s with someone else.

It’s unfair - all of it, because she wants him to be happy (she wants the world for him – she does. And she’d fight for it too), but wasn’t he happy enough when it was just them two? And why, all of a sudden, is his world somehow a better place now that he’s with Jackie? Wasn’t she enough? Can’t he be happy with her?

Can’t he like his best friend just like she likes him? Can’t she be happy too?

She clutches her pillow tighter to her body, collapsing into a tired heap on her rug.

Falling for her best friend wasn’t on her agenda coming to Earth. The entire point of coming here was to train in a safe environment. But the past couple of weeks have been nothing but screw ups on her part, and this was just the rotted cherry on top of an already-soiled cake. She wasn’t supposed to develop feelings for Marco at all. But she did, she supposes. And they’re overwhelming – the thought clutching at something deep in her chest and bubbling up her throat.

She buries her face into the cloth as a new wave of sobs come out.

Star Butterfly never did anything right anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can send over prompts to ghostgetters.tumblr.com/ask when the prompt box is open!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt from thelazerbird on tumblr: "Don't ask questions you don't want answers for.”

“Do you notice something…off about Marco?” 

Janna barely glances up from the doodles she draws on her notebook in between crudely-taken algebra two notes. A majority take the form of cool statues Tom and Star showed her when they all went to his castle in the Underworld. “What, like, more than usual?” She snorts, and Jackie has to fight to roll her eyes. 

“I’m serious,” she whispers, looking up and across the room where Marco sits. They’re all in the same math class again this year, which is nice. But Marco’s right next to the window while her and Janna were assigned to the back, and for the entirety of class time, he’s gone between staring outside or angrily texting on his phone. “He isn’t even paying attention!” And Marco Diaz _always_ pays attention. 

Janna coos, following Jackie’s gesture briefly to where his face was practically inside his desk. “Maybe he’s starting to embrace that bad boy persona.” 

“ _Janna_.” 

“Right, sorry,” she sighs, flipping her notebook and beginning a new drawing - something that looks more like from one of her summoning books she used to read at the library with Jackie. “I dunno, Jackie,” with her voice dismissive, she hopes the conversation ends there, and Jackie can take a nap as Skullnick dully describes monomials, like some twisted lullaby for Sophomores. 

“Do you think it’s about Star?” 

Janna pauses her drawing, grimacing. The entirety of the situation is…touchy, and Jackie prying into it instead of living in blissful ignorance doesn’t make any of it more comfortable to watch. She feels bad, and she kinda wants to smack Marco for being so stupid, but she knows it’s not really anyone’s fault. “I think -” 

“So it is about her!” 

Janna shushes her, looking around at the few classmates that stole quick glances back at the pair. “He’s more than likely talking to Star, yes.”

“He’s been all angry and upset since we hung out with her and that demon-guy. Tom, right?” She doesn’t wait for Janna to respond. “I don’t get why. It’s not like him and Star fought at all. She just was with Tom a bit more than the rest of us.” 

“Yeah, her and Tom are _pretty_ close lately.”

“Do you…” Jackie stops, looking up at where her boyfriend looks out the window, chin in his hands and a frown adorning his features. She didn’t want to admit it, but lately his attitude has pretty much shown all the clear signs pointing to the obvious. “You don’t think he’s jealous of them, do you?” 

Jackie watches Janna silently, anxiously tapping her pencil back and forth on her palm tree-styled pencil case as she waits for a (hopefully reassuring) opinion. She’s feared complications in her relationship with Marco ever since his end of the year party, but she thought all of that was fine when Marco told her he kept his friendship with Star completely platonic. But now, she’s not really sure. 

Janna turns towards Marco, where he’s seemingly brought back from the rain outside to the reality of his cellphone. Her eyes follow him as he swallows, almost looking hurt, while reading whatever message he just received, scowl deepening, and then types furiously into his phone. Janna, who’s been quietly observing him ever since he learned Star and Tom were on good terms again, with Tom providing a supportive shoulder for her to lean on lately, looks on with disapproval. Even with Jackie in her ear anxiously, she feels bad for him.

She turns back to her waiting friend. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to.” 

Jackie blinks. “What is that supposed -” 

“Jackie Lynn Thomas!” 

She jumps, nearly falling out of her chair at the sound of her teacher’s booming voice. The voice or the harsh glare or snarling teeth - she can’t figure out which scares her more. 

“Maybe you can come up here and explain how to find the area in this equation? Since you seem to understand it enough to _talk so much_.” 

“I, uh -” she looks away from the pitiful stare of her close friend over to Marco. Even through the troll’s yelling, he still hasn’t looked up from his phone. And is he getting sadder the longer he looks at it? She can’t even tell anymore. “No, I’m sorry. I’ll pay better attention now.” 

Miss Skullnick scoffs, turning back to the board and muttering things about ‘ungrateful students’ and whatnot. Relieved from that embarrassment, she turns back to her friend, who’s back to doodling in her notebook and ignoring her. And meanwhile, Marco’s mood radiates depression as he goes back to watching the rain, ignoring everyone else. 

For the first time ever, she’s grateful watching Miss Skullnick write obscene fractions, something she thinks she’d have a better time figuring out then whatever is going on with everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can send over prompts to ghostgetters.tumblr.com/ask when the prompt box is open!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posted to tumblr on 11/03/17: Worked on this with radiowrittenheart! We’ve had this idea for like two weeks, but we finally got to jot it down.
> 
> This is a scene set in Scent of a Hoodie. Buckle up.

Lilacia’s witnessed plenty of mental breakdowns from her best friend over the course of the years. They mainly stem from the regal duties and the mere mention of St. Olga’s, but they’re typically short outbursts that are immediately stemmed with a change of topic. So, being her certified best friend and all (no, there is  _no one else_  in that running, thank you very much), she considers herself more experienced in Star Butterfly’s breakdowns.

Well, she thought she did.

Today pretty much shredded that previous fact up. Shredded it, crumbled it up, dipped it in Miss Heinous’ soiled bath oils, and tossed it into the spike-filled abyss below her favorite dance club.

“Give me the hoodie, B-fly!”

She’s a few yards behind her, zigzagging through hallways of the castle’s lower levels. Star’s  _fast_ , always has been, and Pony Head gets tired even when she flys, sparkles trailing their path.

“No!” Star turns a corner, and then another, almost losing her best friend, but Pony Head catches the glimpse of red that trails behind her friend like a long cape, gripped in her fists like some sort of baton.

She finally reaches her, but barely; it’s the arm of the hoodie that Pony Head gets a grip on, and she tugs back on it with her teeth. The movement knocks Star off her feet, landing backwards on the floor and holding onto the other arm. The surprise quickly wipes off her face and she reaches up with the other hand to tug back against her friend’s hold.

“You need to let go!”

“I  _can’t_!”

Star’s strong, but there’s a large ache that Pony Head knows is fueling her, and the anxiety she wears - the absolute desperation drives her to pull harder and harder.

And the sound of a tear echoes in the hallway, freezing both of them in their frantic tug-of-war.

Her mouth drops open letting the arm fall to the floor, and Star crawls over to it, gathering it in her lap life some limp doll, examining the damages. It isn’t terrible - there’s a hole under the sleeve from what she can tell, but she knows a decent tailor and could get it fixed. Probably.

She mentions it to her, but Star’s clearly not appeased.

“This is your fault!” Star yells, turning back to her, “If you didn’t  _butt in_ , I never would be in this mess!” Star thrusts the hoodie towards her friend angrily. Pony Head glares back, indignant. “This is all I have left of him! Why are you making me get rid of it?”

“ _’Cus you are too messed up on this boy_!”

“He isn’t just some _boy_!” Star argues. “He’s not just my best friend, either! He’s my entire world, Pony! He’s Marco and he’s special to me. He was home and he’s gone,” her voice begins to crack as water fills her vision, “a-and I don’t wanna lose him!”

She watches Star grip the sleeves of the hoodie tighter in her grip, tracing her thumbs across the bright red cotton. Her head hangs low, and there’s a part of her screaming to zap her out of it with her horn, but she merely floats in front of her as Star begins to collapse, knees caving into the tiles below. She fists the cloth, bringing it closer to her face and lets out a sob, and then another, until the tears that were hanging unleash in waves.

It’s nothing like she’s ever seen before. It’s nothing she even thought the person she thought exhibited pure light, sunshine, and happiness could be capable of doing.

“I didn’t know…” she starts, floating closer down to her level, trying to get a decent look at her. Star shakes, trying to subside the tears and hiccuping through deep breaths, “I didn’t know he meant that much to you. I’m sorry, girl. Maybe… maybe I can go snatch another one of his hoodies. He’s got, like, twenty of ‘em, right?”

No response. Pony bites her lip, growing more worried with each and every second.

“B-fly—?”

“No. You were right.”

It’s muffled by the hoodie she’s been swallowed in, but Pony Head hears it. She hears her best friend’s broken voice that is almost unrecognizable.

“What?”

Star sniffles, staring blankly at the hoodie that lies on her lap, “I have to get over him.”

“Star, you don’t know what he—”

“Yeah, I do,” she replies, fists rubbing at her eyes and exhaling shakily. “He’s liked someone else for years, he’s finally dating her, and he’s happy. There’s no place for me in a situation like that. W-what—” She stops for a moment to sniffle, a small waterfall cascading over a dusty pink heart. “What’s the point of me hanging onto stuff like this when it just makes me feel worse and worse?”

And then… the inevitable. A statement that always looms in Star’s mindset, a taunting voice that she once thought of as a bully, a discouragement. When in reality, it was just the painful truth.

“I have to let Marco go.”

A gasp slips past Pony’s lips, and she shakes her head violently. “Oh, girl, no, don’t do that,” she says.

She can’t believe what she’s saying, she’s urging her bestie towards a guy that once upon a time, she had hated. But now, Pony Head has grown up and she’s seen things. She’s seen how Star looks at Marco, how she smiles and now? Seeing how broken Star is, it’s like the missing puzzle piece. What’s even worse about this puzzle is that no picture is formed.

Pony Head mentally steps away and just sees a mess.

She can’t imagine how Star feels.

“I  _have_  to,” Star urges, her breaths borderline hyperventilating. “It’s the only way for me to move on and feel normal again, y’know?”

A stammer falls from Pony’s lips, but she loses the words and just sighs. For all of her loudmouth nature, this one time where she should just say something, she can’t.

All the floating equine can do is hover a little closer to her bestie, resting her head on Star’s shoulder.

“I just want you to be happy, girl,” Pony eventually mumbles. “That’s all I want.”

“Uh-huh,” Star weakly mutters, fingers slowly gaining color again as she loosens her tight grip on the hoodie.

The hallway is quiet for awhile, Star sitting on the floor and Pony Head’s mane nuzzling against her hair. Eventually Star pushes herself up with her hands, letting the hoodie droop over carelessly in one as she finds her footing. With a quick brush of her dress, she starts down the hallway they previously ran down.

“Star?” Pony Head hovers behind. Her friend stops, not turning around. “What are you doing…?”

“I’m gonna…” Star trails off, glancing longingly at the clothing in her hands. She swallows, breathes deep and exhales slowly. “I’m gonna give this back to Lavabo. He can wash it and fix it. Then I’ll…send it back to Marco, I guess.”

Pony Head feels something inside her sink. “Star…”

“It’s fine,” Star cuts in, continuing down the hallway. “Let’s get there before he leaves for the day.”

Pony Head doesn’t say anything, opting instead to fly over and float next to her, stealing glances at her best friend as they go. She’s seen a lot of Star’s fluctuating emotions, especially today, but she’s never seen  _this_  before; not upset or angry, but almost drained and tired. Defeated.

It makes her wonder what Marco would say. What he’d do, if it wasn’t him Star was so broken over.

She was so sure of Star moving on before, and that she could do it. That she  _needed_  to. But now…now she’s not entirely sure.

It’s another affirmation of what she thought she knew about Star that’s been completely torn apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can send over prompts to ghostgetters.tumblr.com/ask when the prompt box is open!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt from starbutterfly-diaz on tumblr: *from the garbage can where I live* gimme that good First Starco Kiss *hisses*

There is a quiet melody humming in the back of Star’s throat as she watches the moons slowly rise over the forests and streams of her homeland. It’s a view she’s reserved for herself, but as of late, she’s dragged Marco up to the castle rooftops to bask in its beauty with her. A lullaby for two, and she takes seconds between the changing skyline to look up at the person she thought would disappear like the sun does every day.

 _“It’s just something I wanna share with my best friend_ ,” she had said the first night, forcing him to sit on a makeshift blanket laid out across the purple panels. She took the spot on the opposite side of the blanket and dipped her hand into the bowl of nachos that took way too long for her to prepare. “ _Think of it as a…re-declaration to be my squire again. So now you_ have _to enjoy it._ ”

It was half true. Honestly, she just hadn’t been able to separate herself from his side ever since she retrieved him from Eclipsa’s grasp, and that was weeks ago. Marco didn’t seem to mind much – never commenting on the company and keeping a subtly happy aura about him when she was around. Even now, with war hanging over their heads and an evil queen lurking in the shadows, with frightening intentions for the both of them, he seemed relaxed. Peaceful, even.

She missed this. She missed him.

Things were so dysfunctional before – confessions and heartbreak and forcing feelings and a massive fight that almost blew the foundation of their friendship. And then he was ripped from her side in the snap of two violet-colored fingers, fighting her with dark spells from her own wand.

But now, they’re starting over. They’re at the beginning again, and it’s nice, she supposes. Star knows how he feels about her and he knows how she feels about him, and it’s a safe medium in which they leave those feelings unanswered.

It’s nice.

Well, okay, not  _nice_ – she’s hoped for different scenarios, but circumstances and prophecies and her own stupid heart have pretty much led them down this road. They’ve gotten through mutual jealousy, a nearly severed friendship, and separation at the hands of evil forces –  _twice_. What’s a safe plateau, anyway? At least she has him, and that’s enough for her.

“This view kinda reminds me of the  _Fiesta De La Noche_ series finale,” Marco mutters, leaning back. He hasn’t said much that night, allowing Star to take the reins of conversation.

Star gasps excitedly turning to face him, “When Dustin proposed to Selena after winning the World Class Dance Tournament!”

“And Luana finally found her parents –” he continues, smirking.

“ _And the car crash!_ ” They exclaim together. A pause, because  _of course_ they’d do that weird talk-at-the-same-time thing, and the quiet moment is filled with rambunctious laughter. They collapse against one another, closer than before until their laughter turns to content sighs.

It’s comfortable like this.

She rests her head on his shoulder, leaning her weight against him. “I miss Friendship Thursdays.”

“We’ll have them again,” he promises. “Telenovelas and pizzas with a hundred mushrooms.”

“Ninety-nine,” Star corrects. “’Hundred’s  _way_  too many.”

Marco chuckles, lying his head to rest on her own. “Right, I forgot. The Amelio’s disaster.”

She giggles at the recollection; it felt like forever ago that Pony Head crashed one of their routine not-date nights. Things were easier back then. Glossaryck ate pudding in her closet, Eclipsa was never a thought to be had, and Marco was simply a constant thought that made her heart beat just a bit faster. Now, she sits and watches the stars with her soulmate,  _her lifeline_ , waiting for news from her mother regarding Eclipsa’s whereabouts. She exhales, burying herself into Marco’s hoodie.

“Whatcha thinking about?”

“I just want things to be peaceful again,” she mumbles. “I want to feel  _safe_ , and I want my friends and family to be safe. And I want you –”

There’s a lot of things she wants. She’s nearly overwhelmed by his scent – fresh, this time around, and vaguely spicy, and she wants to be surrounded by it. She wants to think of the good times; times where they’re together and he’s the simple Karate Boy from Earth. She wants those memories to flush out the ones that flutter in her nightmares – where his cheeks glow an eerie violet, his eyes masked over with an emptiness she never thought he could muster, and her own wand pointed at her.

“I—I just…I want you to stay by my side,” Star stammers. “I can’t allow you to be ripped away from me again.”

“I know.”

“I won’t let you.”

His hands move from his lap to her knee, which lies against his in a comfortable heap. They come together on top of her hand, practically waiting for his warmth, and their fingers lace, folding together like matching puzzle pieces. It such a natural movement that she barely thinks about how well her hand fits in his.

“I know,” he repeats.

Star turns her head to meet his eyes instead of reply, because she’s feeling anxious again, the need to see his warm brown instead of pale and lifeless eyes overwhelm her senses. It overwhelms her conscienc, the one that sounds like him when he told her he liked her. When he looks down at her, and then at her lips, the voice that tells her starting over is the best plan right now fades like a failing cassette tape.

Everything fades when her eyes close and he meets her half way.

Marco’s a gentle kisser, and his lips make her feel safe, but the sensation of kissing him is like being hit with hundreds of tiny, exploding hearts. Even behind closed eyelids, she sees the glow of her cheeks, which only warm her more, unbothered by the gentle breeze that blows across the rooftop. After one kiss, she meets him again, and  _again –_

The voice reappears –  _we’re not supposed to do this_ … ****

“Sorry,” she exhales, pulling back and shaking her head. “Sorry. Sweet Corn, I’m so stupid – we agreed to start over and just be friends but I went ahead and moved things too fast,” Star forces herself off the blanket and away from his warmth, feeling him nearly collapse into the space she leaves. “You enjoy the view, I’m gonna –”

“Too fast?” Marco laughs, pushing himself up to stand with her. “Star, I’ve known you for almost two years, and I can’t even count the days I’ve been in love with you during them.”

She freezes, staring up at him. Marco reaches for her hands and clasps them together. They’d gone back to chapter one but still ended up turning to a new page anyway.

“So, I know I said we’d take it slow, but since we’re soulmates or whatever, shouldn’t we just…go for it?”

His palms feel sweaty, or maybe they’re her own, squeezing against his for some sign that she’s actually not awake. But she sees Marco look back at her and she basks in the very real way his eyes carefully search her own.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really,” he replies. “Haven’t we wasted enough time?”

She nods. “You’re more than just my soulmate, you know that?”

She watches him swallow back, leaning down to kiss her again –

“You’re my best friend, Marco Diaz, the Safe Kid from Earth,” she interrupts teasingly, turning her head away to face the moons that sit high in the sky and enjoying the sound of his amusement, “and the only person in this dimension that knows how to make decent nachos.”

He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, alright –”

“Oh, and you’re obsessed with Macki Hand and you're great at Tang Soo Do and you’re the  _cutest idiot alive–_ ”

He turns her head and kisses her, and her emblems glow again. His hands find purchase around her waist as hers cradle his cheeks, thumbs tracing where the crescent moons hide.

She fingers trail down to grasp at his shoulders, covered in her favorite soft red cotton and she grips it tightly, pulling him closer. His kisses make her ears ring so loud, that the  _very_  loud sound echoing from the main entrance of the kingdom doesn’t reach her until he swiftly pulls away from her lips, facing the gates by the trench. She follows his gaze, watching below.

The castle alarms continue to blare, warnicorns stampeding over the bridge and into safe passage.

_“Get the Queen to Medical!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can send over prompts to ghostgetters.tumblr.com/ask when the prompt box is open!


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